Decision Making, Essay Example

You have a good friend who has begun dating a patient in your office. You know that the patient is HIV positive. How will you react to this situation?

It is my concern that my friend is dating a HIV positive patient and it gets even tougher for me to know that he does not know the status of his date. HIV-discordant couples or mixed status is a critical issue to handle and very difficult especially in my case. I am torn between telling it all and keeping it to at the expense of my friend’s life. One thing I know is that no matter what, I will have to help my friend regardless of the means I use.

I understand that HIV positive people find it very difficult to contemplate dating another person because they feel as if they are less desirable or even less appealing than negative people are. I also know that a dating process is more than just considering HIV status therefore; I cannot discourage my friend or tell him directly on the face that his partner is positive. I am thinking of bringing in a scenario. In this case, I will take my friend to a social place as usual and do it the way we are used to in our moments of fun. This is my best opportunity to get some sense it my friend that will help him later in his dating process.

The scenario will be all about a friend of mine (not him) or someone in my family who is dating a positive person yet he does not know. Creating such a scenario will get him in a fix of advising me on how to go about handling my friend’s situation. In this case, am sure he will be having many solutions that we will discuss as I listen attentively to what he has in store. My main aim is to sound as desperate as possible so that he can take it serious and give appropriate advice on handling my fixed status. After he is done, I will have to sound like I pity my friend and introduce my opinions on good dating. This time, I will make it sound serious of the need for testing before you take your dating experience further. I will however personify the scenario and make it, as if I will also need to change. I will make sure I also create another scenario of a girl I am interested in dating but am afraid of her status.

Basing on our experiences and previous discussions we have ever had, my friend will fall for my tricks. He will indeed tell me about someone whom he is dating and try to ask more on what he should do. Am sure he does not know of her status but from the idea of making it as if I will have to go for testing with someone I am dating, he will also feel the urge and a need to copy the same. He is tender hearted and I am sure he will not take the risk because we have been together for long and we talk more on life issues.

To make it even better, I will take a step and fake a meeting with someone else preferably another friend he does not know and prepare a session with a counselor. This way, my friend will come thinking that we are helping the other friend get over his issues but the session will also touch on both of us a great deal. Am sure it will work because I cannot afford any other routine because I am afraid of hurting him and ruining his life and career. I will be difficult but am sure we will get there and see unto it that he gets help.